As public concern about the health impacts of ultraprocessed foods grows, the wider issue of our unhealthy food environment is fast becoming an issue that health professionals and policymakers are keen to tackle.
A recent series of community-based workshops led by the all-Ireland food safety and nutrition body, Safefood, found that the public wants much stronger promotion and prominence of healthy foods in our supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, canteens and food delivery services.
Researchers often refer to healthy food deserts in disadvantaged areas where fast-food outlets outnumber shops selling fresh food, thus reducing access to healthy foods. Subtle marketing of unhealthy foods by social media influencers – particularly to children – is another issue.
But what regulatory and infrastructural changes are needed to best tackle Ireland’s unhealthy food environment? And what incentives should be introduced to make choosing healthier food options easier for everyone?
1. Expand ban on the advertising and promotion of unhealthy foods aimed at children to online platforms
The Irish voluntary code on broadcast advertising of high fat, salt and sugar food products currently only covers paid advertising up to 6pm, leaving children vulnerable to more subtle forms of online promotion of unhealthy foods at any hour. Aileen McGloin, head of nutrition at Safefood, wants this to change.
“Our research has found that influencer advertising captures children’s attention for five times longer than traditional paid ads. It’s an insidious form of advertising as children feel a connection with influencers they follow,” says McGloin.
Gaming platforms and food delivery apps aren’t covered under any restrictive advertising code and both channels are widely used by children. Similarly, there is no mandatory advertising code curtailing snack food companies from sponsoring children’s sports clubs and talent competitions.
“Our research shows that the current advertising code isn’t working. This points to a need for more comprehensive regulation to be implemented, which includes multiple forms of advertising where most exposure comes from,” says McGloin.
McGloin points to a new mandatory code in the UK. Introduced in January 2026, it bans both paid television advertising of junk foods up to 9pm and all online promotions of unhealthy foods to children. “Public health professionals [in the UK] are very hopeful that these measures will help but it will take time to see what changes take place,” she says.
The UK legislation stopped short of banning brands from sponsorship and promotion despite research showing strong links between brands and unhealthy food choices. “If children see a logo for a well-known fast food outlet even if it is advertising coffee, children will think of burgers and chips,” says McGloin.
2. Make school meals sociable, unrushed times to enjoy healthy food
There has been much public debate on the nutritional content of the hot school meals introduced into all primary schools in the Republic in the early 2020s.
But Sarah Browne, dietitian and lecturer in nutrition in the school of public health, physiotherapy and sports science at University College Dublin, believes there are wider issues at stake in providing food for children in schools. While much of her research has focused on post-primary students, she suggests school meals need to be considered more holistically as an educational opportunity.
“A successful lunch needs clean and adequate seating areas for all students and enough time for students to eat and chat with their friends without sacrificing their time outdoors,” says Browne. She adds that giving children alternative proteins such as beans and legumes in school meals is an opportunity to expose them to healthy, sustainable foods. “We found that young people are very concerned about food and packaging waste, and exploring the provision of food by local producers and cooks is another educational opportunity,” she says.
[ How Ireland got hooked on ultra-processed foods – and the only viable solutionOpens in new window ]
Browne cites Sweden, Finland and Japan as examples of countries where in-house school chefs or cooks provide healthy school meals. Students in these countries are aware that school meals are part of wider sustainability-focused wellbeing policies, such as public procurement of local organic produce.
“Young people will remember and be influenced by actions that allow them to enjoy the things that are important to them at break times. By resourcing positive food environments, children will want to eat food that nourishes them while being part of enjoyable relaxed mealtimes with their peers.”
3. Introduce healthy food vouchers in disadvantaged areas and tax junk food
Denise Cahill, healthy cities coordinator for Cork city, says two-for-one offers on confectionery, sugary drinks and crisps normalise overconsumption, particularly in lower-income communities already more vulnerable to diet-related illness.
“Reimagining supermarkets and other food retailers as ‘spaces of sufficiency’ rather than excess is central to creating healthier food environments,” says Cahill.
This would mean measuring value not by volumes sold but by nourishment delivered and waste avoided. “Taxes on junk food, subsidies on fruit and vegetables and targeted healthy food vouchers would help, as would a social supermarket model where healthy, locally grown food is sold at reduced prices to people on low incomes,” she says. She cites the Glen Community Garden in Cork city as an example of such a model. Produce from the garden is sold to local people, with cooking classes incorporating food budgeting offered to anyone interested. “This allows people to shop with dignity and agency in their food choices rather than relying on food banks,” says Cahill.
Ultimately, she believes healthier food environments are not created by choice alone but by design. “Regulation and incentives to increase local production are essential to make the healthy option the easy and affordable one.”
4. No reduced VAT rate for fast-food restaurants and extend sugar tax to ultra processed foods
Chris Macey, head of advocacy at the Irish Heart Foundation, believes that the reduced VAT rate of 9 per cent for the hospitality industry due to be introduced in July this year should not apply to fast food restaurants. “It should only apply to restaurants and food outlets that provide sufficient healthy options, meet advice on portion sizes and carry clear nutrition information on menus.”
[ Women in stressful jobs on how they manage nutrition, exercise and moreOpens in new window ]
As well as lobbying for calorie posting on menus and the introduction of EU Nutri-Score labelling (a five-colour coding system ranking products from most healthy A to least healthy E), the Irish Heart Foundation sees enforcing no-fry zones near schools as a key measure in restricting children’s exposure to junk food. “Finnish research found that the proximity of a fast-food outlet to a school can potentially lead to a 25 per cent increase in the risk of a child being overweight,” says Macey.
5. Ban sweets, chocolates, crisps and fizzy drinks at checkout counters in shops
Prof Donal O’Shea, consultant endocrinologist and HSE clinical lead for obesity, would like to see a mandatory ban on the sale of sweets, chocolates, crisps and fizzy drinks at checkouts introduced as part of the Government’s upcoming obesity policy and action plan.
“This would have a significant impact on population levels of obesity – and in particular childhood obesity levels,” he says.
“Even hardware stores have sweets and high fat, high salt, high sugar foods at their checkouts. And the cynical way the products for three-year-olds are placed at the three-year-olds’ eye level almost proves the point of how effective product placement is at any age,” says O’Shea.
He reckons the 2018 levy on sugary soft drinks has been very effective primarily because companies reformulated their drinks to bring them below the tax threshold. “The UK have recently extended the tax to sugary milk-based drinks and I would like the Irish Government to follow this. And also to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under 16s, as is the case in the UK,” he adds.
“These drinks make it impossible for a young brain to focus or concentrate and have very negative effects on young people. The main obstacle to be overcome is the powerful food and drinks industry lobbying – [they] have spent more than the gambling and alcohol industry on lobbying government officials,” says O’Shea. He also argues that vending machines in publicly funded facilities should be mandated to sell only snacks with a maximum of 100 calories per item.
